Differences Between Human and Primate Hands

Although humans and other primates share many physiological characteristics, they also have many traits that are distinct from each other. How species use various parts of their anatomy accounts for much of the difference, as does size. Even with the many differences, however, humans and other primates' hands have many more traits in common than they do differences.

  1. Usage

    • According to Hand Research.com, a major difference between human hands and other primates lies in their usage. Human hands are designed for the purpose of grasping and manipulating, while the other primates, including bonobos, chimps, gorillas and orangutans, use their hands to walk, as well. Only the bonobo and man are fully capable of walking on two feet. With the exception of chimpanzees--who are only capable of walking confidently in water--all other non-human primate species have trouble walking on two feet.

    Palm Lines

    • An obvious difference between man's hands and the hands of nonhuman primates can be seen in the lines that run across the palms. While humans' primary palm lines tend to curve, the three to five palm lines on nonhuman primates run in a straight, horizontal line all the way across the palm. Additionally, these lines are often connected to each other. "Simian crease" is the name given to the rare incidences of a straight, apelike, palm line on a human hand.

    Thumb Length

    • Though all primates have opposable thumbs, none is as long as the human thumb, and none is capable of grasping with such detailed precision as the human hand. The longest thumb in the primate world--next to the human's--is the gorilla thumb. However, the fact that gorillas have less acuity in their grips than species with shorter thumbs, such as the bonobo and chimp, indicates that thumb length is not the only factor in making for a precision grip.

    Gestures

    • In the paper "Interacting Bodies," psychology professors Katja Liebal and Simone Pika compare the use of communicative hand gestures by humans and other primates. Unlike humans, nonhuman primates do not use symbolic or conventionalized gestures, such as "thumbs-up" or numerical references, but instead, use gestures to achieve specific social goals in such activities as nursing, grooming, play and mating. However, nonhuman primates are able to understand and generate human-originated gestures when in captivity, according to Liebal and Pika. The authors believe that study of the apes' gestural communication may offer insight into the evolution of human communication.